Sweet Reprieve
by JulesSC
Summary: A one-shot outtake from The Blue Hour  not yet posted , detailing a sweet moment between parents and children, way before Alice even came into the picture.


**Sweet Reprieve**

**Summary:** A one-shot outtake from The Blue Hour (not yet posted), detailing a sweet moment between parents and children, way before Alice even came into the picture.

**A/N:** This takes place sometime after Rosalie's newborn bloodlust started to fade and she's happily living out her married-with-kids dream with Emmett and the twins, Bella and Felix. Bear in mind that, in my The Blue Hour universe, half vampire/half human hybrids grow twice as slowly as humans, not twice as faster. I made it that way because I sympathized with Rosalie's pain and I wanted her to draw out everything she could from the kids' childhood, the way Bella and Edward were robbed off with Renesmee in cannon.

I hope you enjoy! Please leave a line or two at the end. Thank you.

* * *

My eyes flew open at the sound of Bella's whimpers - with my newly acquired heightened senses, we had no practical use for baby monitors, but I was adamant. There was nothing that I wouldn't get for my children, and this was my only chance.

A pang of sadness went through me at the thought, but I shoved it aside. If it weren't for Emmett, and if it weren't for Carlisle changing me, I would've never even gotten this chance, let alone a future one to have more kids. Bella and Felix were my miracle angels, and they were so much more than 'just enough' for me. As long as I had Emmett and the twins, I was set for eternity.

Bella's whimpers escalated by the second until she was full out crying, screaming her little lungs out. I was standing fully erect before I'd even finished my thought to do so, and I froze on the spot for a moment, not used to such inhuman reflexes, such precise agility. The sound of my daughter's unhappy cries made me spring back to life.

I made my way towards the room right next door to mine and Emmett's. Emmett had made good use of his hands whilst I had still been pregnant and had constructed sliding wooden doors that joined our room to the nursery - it was a good thing he did because, even now, I still had separation anxiety.

I entered the beautifully decorated, gold-accented nursery, courtesy of Esme, and stopped short at what I saw. Emmett was seated on the large velvet armchair by the window, his large frame hunched over slightly as he cradled a tiny baby in his arms. She looked no bigger than six months old, at most, though I knew that she was only a few days away from her first birth anniversary. She was still crying, and he was rocking back and forth, the most tender expression I'd ever seen on his face.

I had never seen him look like that before. The slightly hazy memory of us on our wedding night, the first time I'd ever allowed him to go farther than kissing, the first time I'd ever allowed myself to be touched so intimately after that whole incident with Royce, sprang to mind. But even then…It didn't compare.

His dark brows were drawn together, his beautiful tawny eyes wide and slightly misty. He was smiling widely, though it wasn't one of his mischievous smiles or his flirty smiles. It was a pure, loving, beautiful smile. Both his dimples showed.

"Shh, shh, sweet angel," I heard him coo to the baby girl in his arms. "Come on, now… There's no need to cry."

Still, the baby girl wouldn't listen to him. Her chin quivered and her face was almost a deep red as she continued screaming, her eyes tightly screwed shut.

I looked around, panic overtaking me for a moment, as I searched for Felix. I found him safely in his bassinet, wide awake and staring at both Emmett and Bella with a small smirk on his face as though he was amused. _That_ he'd definitely inherited from Emmett.

Satisfied that my baby boy was fine - not that I, in any way, doubted my husband with our children - I turned back to look at him and the unhappy little girl in his arms. Her face was scrunched up now and she was swinging her clenched fists around in annoyance, her tiny baby mouth opening wider as she bawled loudly. Felix, as shocking as it may be, continued to remain calm.

We had learned very early that Bella and Felix were both very different personality-wise. While Bella was wild and energetic and had constant mood swings, Felix was more reserved. They were both unusually observant - Bella had more than once used her handy gift of projecting her thoughts to others via a simple skin-to-skin contact, and showed us things that a normal child, especially at her age, shouldn't be able to spot. Felix was the same way, as Edward had confirmed by reading his mind. And Felix wasn't in any way less cheeky than Bella. He was always 'playing pranks' on the family, as Emmett called it. He'd use his telekinesis to move things about or lift his toys in the air to spin around, or even mess up certain things.

I had been more than surprised when, the first time I'd laid eyes on my angels, I'd found out that when Bella would throw a tantrum, Felix would simply sit by and watch on amusedly, as though the whole thing was funny to him. It hadn't fazed the rest of the family - they'd already gotten used to it by that time - and when I'd touched Bella for the first time and gotten a flash of her thoughts, or when Felix had wiggled his tiny baby fingers to bring his pacifier to him with the power of his mind…They hadn't been surprised by that, either.

To this day, I still felt incredibly guilty and immensely sad that I'd missed out on five months of my angels' lives. It wasn't just any random five months, either, but the very first months of their existence. I spent as much time as I could with them, so much so that Emmett had commented once or twice if I was compensating for the months I'd lost. He'd tried to make me understand that it hadn't been my fault, but I still couldn't help regret it. I was the last one to see and hold and meet my own children. That thought had always made me envious of the others, even Emmett. Wasn't it the mother's right to hold the baby she had painstakingly pushed out of her body - or, in my case, allowed to claw out of her womb - ahead of everyone else?

"Let's do the airplane, let's do the airplane!" Emmett was cooing in a silly baby voice, swinging his cradled arms about and carefully making rocking motions in an attempt to soothe Bella. All it did was make her scream louder, and Emmett sighed, shaking his head. I could see a tiny, amused smile playing on the edges of his lips.

All of a sudden, the temperature of the room started slowly getting hotter. I knew that this was due to Bella's distress. She was a small baby and had no idea how to control her emotions, or her powers. Whenever she was upset, the room temperature would escalate. So far, nothing else had happened but Carlisle warned that it might change in the future.

Felix, probably getting uncomfortable from the hot temperature, started to fidget in his bassinet. Due to them being half human and half vampire, both Felix and Bella had much warmer temperatures than us vampires. The thing was, they had an even higher temperature than normal humans. Carlisle had measured and said that their average temperature was about a hundred and three. It had given me a near heart attack, metaphorically speaking of course. Emmett had worried about not knowing when either of them was sick but Carlisle didn't think they _could _get sick.

When Bella didn't stop crying, and the temperature steadily rose, Felix grew unhappy. Glaring in the direction of his sister - whom he'd referred to as 'devil' in his mind once, according to Edward, having picked up on the term from none other than Emmett himself during one of his insulting matches with his brothers - a coffee-colored teddy bear suddenly flew from the direction of the open chest of toys towards Bella.

Emmett caught it one-handed, his other arm supporting Bella's small frame to his large body expertly. He frowned at Felix. "Felix!" he chided, sounding appalled. "What did me and mommy say about throwing things at your sister?"

Felix might not have been able to respond verbally, at least with words, but he made a tiny whimpering sound at the back of his throat and somehow managed to look repentant. Emmett chuckled at that, throwing the bear back into the chest with his precise aim, before sliding his free arm under Bella's body once more.

Bella, who had been momentarily distracted by Emmett's scolding tone and the bear, glared at her brother. Her cheeks, tinged a beautiful peachy color that I was envious of, were streaked wet with tears. Her full red lips which she had gotten from me were pulled into a pout as she focused her violet eyes at her brother, staring at him angrily.

Emmett chortled. "Sibling love," he commented dryly with a roll of his eyes.

At the sound of his voice, Bella started crying again. She turned her head away from Felix, buried her tiny face in Emmett's chest and continued to sob, her curled up balls of fists pounding against her father's chest.

Emmett looked about ready to tear his hair out of his scalp. That wouldn't do since his hair wouldn't grow back and I couldn't have a bald husband for all eternity. That look just wouldn't fit him whatsoever.

I was just about to make my presence known and offer my assistance when, to my complete shock, Emmett started singing.

"Summertime, and the living is easy," a shiver went down my spine at the sound of his voice. It was as musical as the day I'd first heard it, only better, heard through ears that weren't muddled by the limitations of humanity. It was sexy, and masculine, and deep and strong…It was purely Emmett. "Fish are jumping, and the cotton is high…Your daddy's rich, and your ma is good looking. So hush little baby, don't you cry…"

Little Isabella McCarty-Hale, my beautiful baby with the same bluish-violet eyes as I'd had when I was human, stopped crying, her sobs turning into small, quiet whimpers. Her eyes pried open and though her dark, thick lashes remained wet, her eyes were drying up quickly as she stared up at her father.

I smiled, halting my movements and leaning against the doorframe instead, my arms crossed over my stomach as I stared at the scene. Even Felix had stopped what he was doing - looking around for the next thing to throw at his sister, no doubt, since he had a horrible habit of doing so whenever she irritated him - his head spinning around to look at his daddy.

"One of these mornings, you're gonna rise up singing," Emmett continued with his sultry singing. "You're gonna spread your wings and take the sky. But 'til that morning, there is nothing that can harm you with your daddy and mommy standing by."

As the last notes of the song rung in the air, the little baby girl in his arms finally cracked a smile. She cooed for a moment in that sweet baby voice of hers before squealing happily at the goofy look Emmett gave her. When my husband reached out with his finger to delicately, gently, tapped her nose and gave her a playful Eskimo's kiss, she gurgled and grabbed onto his nose.

Felix, probably upset that his sister was having all the fun with daddy, reached out one tiny little hand towards Emmett and Bella. The armchair that Emmett was sitting on moved closer to the bassinet, Emmett and Bella still on it, until it was directly next to the bassinet.

Emmett guffawed loudly, and instead of being scared like normal children would be, both Bella and Felix started giggling along with him.

"Want in on some daddy love, huh, little man?" Emmett growled playfully, securing Bella to his body with one large hand with his other hand scooped Felix out of his bassinet and placed him on his left thigh. He started bouncing both knees, gazing lovingly down at both his children. "Are we all happy now?"

I stepped into the room, then, making my way towards my husband and children. He'd probably sensed my presence long before now - damned vampire senses - but for some reason he'd allowed me to watch him in silence.

I slipped my arms around Emmett's shoulders, resting my cheek against his, feeling his smile against my own. "We're happy," I replied softly.

We stayed that way for some time, with me bent slightly and hugging him, and our babies cradled to his body.

He pulled away first, turning his head so he could give me a kiss. "Good," he said against my lips. "I'm so glad, Rose."

I stared up at him with venom-filled eyes, knowing that this was the closest I'd get to shedding tears. I hadn't realized he'd been so observant of my attitude towards my change. I made an internal vow to be happier, if not just for Emmett but for Bella and Felix, as well.

After all, I had a beautiful husband, two kids who had to be the most gorgeous babies ever, and a loving family. What more could I want?

Ignoring the instant answer that had sprang into my mind, I leaned in to steal a slow, sensuous kiss from Emmett. I had to remind myself to pull away before Bella and Felix saw more than they should - even if they were only twelve months old, they had vampire-quality photographic memories. I didn't need them to be scarred so early in life.

I pecked him quickly on the lips and pressed my lips to his smooth cheek before pulling away. "Me, too," I smiled brightly, and reached my arms out for Felix.

He went willingly into my arms while Bella stayed snuggled into Emmett's chest - she was daddy's girl through and through - her violet eyes locked on me and her brother.

"Hello, sweet baby," I cooed to Felix, sitting down on Emmett's knee. "Good morning, lovely angels."

I reached down to brush at Isabella's soft, short, silky curls and she smiled her stunning pearly whites at me. "I love you," I said, directing these three words to all three of my heart's saviors, burying my nose into Felix's hair and taking in his beautiful baby scent.

I felt Emmett dip his head and kiss the crook between my neck and shoulders. "I love you, too, baby," he murmured against my skin. I shivered at the sensation, rolling my eyes when I felt him smirk into my rock-hard flesh.

He pulled away, grabbing Bella's tiny baby body and lifting her in the air quickly, causing her to giggle loudly, and turned her so she was facing me. Still dangling her in the air, he placed her right in front of his face and begun speaking in a ridiculous baby voice. "Don't we, mommy? We lub you. We lub you _sooo _much. Lub you more if you'd let us go to the zoo and visit all de bears, momma…" He tilted his head to the side so I could see him right beside Bella's giggling face, and wagged his eyebrows up and down nonsensically.

I laughed, shaking my head. "Stop being so ridiculous, Emmett," I chastised, but even though my words and tone were stern, there was a fully blown grin I couldn't peel off my face. I hugged my son - _my son!_ - to my chest and leaned against my husband's body, one hand reaching out to lovingly caress my daughter's face. She switched her attention from me to her father, her small hands tangled in his brown curls and tugging. Felix had gotten hold of my necklace and was trying to put it in his mouth. I rolled my eyes, taking the necklace and tucking it underneath my nightgown.

I rested my head atop of Felix's dark head of hair and watched as Emmett spoke silly nonsense to both the twins, making goofy faces and talking about everything they'd be doing on this supposed zoo trip in the future.

Just watching Emmett, being such a beautifully loving father to our two miracles, and having wondrously lovable family moments like these…It was a sweet reprieve from the harsh reality of what I had become.

* * *

Fluffier than my other The Blue Hour outtake, and I love it to death, mainly because Rosalie gets what she always wanted, minus the humanity. I mean, seriously, can you imagine Rosalie getting wrinkles? _So_ not happening.

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this. Please remember to leave a line for me to tell me if you think I should post The Blue Hour - the story starts when Bella and Felix are both grown up, since they were born in the 1940s, and the story begins in 2005 with Alice and Jasper's love story. But it's still fun, if I do say so myself, but I wasn't so sure if I should post it.

Thank you so much for reading.

Juliet.


End file.
